Seven Portuguese companies have had their applications approved in the latest round of the SME Instrument Phase 1, in which the success rate of national participants doubled the European average. The number of companies with approved projects therefore rises to 34, consolidating Portuguese success in the Horizon 2020 program, which supports the internationalization of SMEs.

National participation in this extremely competitive instrument had a success rate of 17.5%, against an European average of 8.4%. Only Sweden and Denmark managed to have more approved projects and a higher success rate than Portugal, while the main participant in this program, Italy, had a success rate of only 5%. These results consolidate an upward success trend in Phase 1 of the SME Instrument, while this is the 4th consecutive cut-off in which the Portuguese contribution exceeds the European average.

With these seven new projects, the number of Portuguese SMEs with approved projects at SME Instrument Phase 1 is now 34.:

Company

Topic

Project

73100 Lda

Bioeconomy

FUCOPOL – An innovative bio-based platform for the cost-competitive production of L-Fucose, a building block for Human Milk Oligosaccharides.

2016 is bringing great news for domestic companies applying for the Horizon 2020 program. In recent weeks, through the Fast Track to Innovation and SME Instrument Phase 2 programs, FastInov and UBQ II obtained over 2 million euros of EU funding for the development of their innovation projects.

The ANI (National Innovation Agency) has been acting as GPPQ’s main partner for domestic companies applying to Horizon 2020, comprising 146 SMEs and 139 large companies.

The list of Portuguese projects funded under the SME Instrument is available here.